Trump Tells Reporters ‘We’re Going For a Good Reason’ En Route To Pope’s Funeral — Reacts Glumly When Told Biden Will Be There
President Donald Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that “We’re going for a good reason” as they flew to Rome for the funeral of Pope Francis, and reacted glumly when he was told former President Joe Biden would be there.
The 88-year-old Pope passed away Monday, and his funeral was held on Saturday at 10 AM Vatican time, six hours ahead of Eastern time.
On Friday, Trump emerged into the press cabin of Air Force One to take questions from reporters for nearly 15 minutes.
He greeted reporters by noting they were taking the long flight “for a good reason,” and became glum at the mention of Biden 1 whom he claimed not to know would be there:
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: — everybody. We have a long flight today. We’re going for a good reason. Do you have any questions?
…
REPORTER: You said you were going to be meeting with some leaders while you were in Rome.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I’m going to be meeting with some people in Rome, yes.
REPORTER: Who are you meeting with?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: And a little bit quickly, and frankly it’s a little disrespectful to have meetings while you’re at the funeral of the Pope. So I’ll be seeing people, I’ll be talking to people, including the prime minister of Italy.
REPORTER: Any plans to see former President Biden?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: What?
REPORTER: Former President Biden, any plans to talk with him? He’s going to be there.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I didn’t know that. I mean, it’s not high on my list. It’s really not.
Trump and Biden were not seated near each other because the funeral seating was done according to the French spellings of the United States (États-Unis) and Ukraine (Ukraine).
While Trump didn’t relish Biden’s presence, he was spotted meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the event.
Zelensky posted a photo of his meeting with Trump, and wrote “Good meeting. We discussed a lot one on one. Hoping for results on everything we covered. Protecting lives of our people. Full and unconditional ceasefire. Reliable and lasting peace that will prevent another war from breaking out. Very symbolic meeting that has potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results. Thank you
@POTUS.”
Watch above via C-SPAN.
